Is it a big ordeal to refinance your house?

Arnold
What all is included in refinancing your house. What up front money do you have to put up.

Alejandro
No. Money, like oil, pretty much comes from the same source. The different banks and mortgage brokers are merely the retailers. Research rates on the web to get an idea of what is typical. Banks will have a set fee structure and set of programs. Mortgage brokers can look at everyting that is available and help you decide what is right for you. The downside to brokers is that they need to get paid, so you will have an extra mouth to feed at the closing table. Bokers can get paid up front, whcih means out of your pocket, or by a "yeild spread premium" which means that the broker raises up the interest rate on your loan and is paid a reward by the lender. This reward is roughly one percent of the loan amount for every quarter percent they raise your interest rate. Unfortunately it is not clearly stated in the documentation, so demand that the broker tell you exactly what he is going to earn upfront.This is a good time to think about refinancing with a fixed rate loan because interest rates are expected to increase and also because long term rates are less than short term rates.

Otelia
Before you do any refinancing, you better do your homework carefully. Be sure you understand all the particulars of the contract. If there is something you don't understand, have it check out before you sign anything. Once you put your signature on the dotted line, the contract becomes binding, fine print and all. Let me cite one example. When the Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMS) were in vogue, people went crazy over them, because of the very low payments they have to make each month, without understanding that the mortgage rate under the ARM plan is changeable at the discretrion of the lender, and when that happened, payments doubled, or even tripled, and some lost their homes.

Queenie
You need money for closing costs & the fee to your attorney, if you choose to use one.Check out ingdirect.com they are offering no closing costs right now.The process is not a big deal BUT it's like starting all over again on your mortgage.If you have a 30 year mortgage & have lived there for 10 years, you have 20 years to go.If you refinance now, it's essentially starting from scratch, now you'll have a 30 year mortgage again.You could always do 20 years if can pay more money each month.Good Luck!

Ellyn
I agree with pretty much everyone here - it's a whole lot like getting the original loan. You can easily have the closing costs rolled into the re-fi, unless that will put you over the cut-off (usually 80% loan-to-value).One thing to consider - how long do you plan to stay in the house? If it's less than a couple of years, a re-fi might not be advantageous. When you consider the closing costs, it takes some time to recoup the cost between what you owe now and what you'll owe when you roll in the closing costs.Also, it's a lot like starting from scratch, so the part of your payment going to interest each month will probably be higher than what it is now, meaning less of your payment is going to principle.Just some things to consider.When we refi'd, we went with a 15-year fixed-rate and lowered our interest rate almost 2%-age points. The payment went down slightly, but we're still paying the old amount and will have the house paid-off before the 15 years are up.

Brendon
it's all the same thing as if you were buying your home for the 1st time.. a whole bunch of paper work..need to get it notorized, recorded at the county clerk, verifying your credit with the bank and all.They only thing is that you should NOT have to put any money down.. So let's say you currenly owe 100 thousand on your home (without the loan).. since you have equity in your home, you want to borrow 50, 000.. and the bank is charging you 5, 000 for closing cost and all.. they total amount you will now owe on your house is 155, 000.hope this helps.

Rosina
It's a bit of a hassle, but if you are getting a better interest rate (rule of thumb, about 2 percentage points lower than what you have) go for it!

Joya
Best bet - go to one of the neutral sites like www.bankrate.com, and get an idea of the best rates and points, then contact that lender directly. You should hurry up though since rates seem to be on the rise.They can usually bundle closing costs into the loan ... and in fact, take money out in cash if you have enough equity.

Bertie
no, it's pretty easy. Finding the right bank is hard.

Elida
No, it's not a big ordeal at all.It's very similar to what you did when you bought your house. You will have to be approved for the refinance loan and you will have closing costs. You can typically roll the closing costs into your loan so you should be able to do it with little to no money up front. We refinanced 4 years ago and rolled the closing cost into our new loan.

Hye
Depends on you. What product you want, how fast you provide the items requested, credit, the lender being paid off. You will get some incredible service right now, mortgage lending has slowed down and lots of people are being laid off and companys shutting down.